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Federal Drive interviews - Aug. 21

Tuesday - 8/21/2012, 9:18am EDT

Photo courtesy of Billy Walker

Billy Walker, Ed.D. —
Superintendent, Randolph Field ISD

Sequestration cuts aren't scheduled to start for four more months. But even if
Congress stops it from happening, some people are already feeling its effects.
There are six school districts in the United States that serve kids who live on
military
bases. Since they can't collect property taxes, they get their funding from the
federal government. And for the upcoming school year's budget, they had to "bake
in" sequestration cuts. That means cutting sports programs and math and science
specialists.

Sequestration would mean even beloved agencies would have their budget cuts.
Agencies like NASA. It would lose 1.6 billion dollars should automatic cuts occur
in January as scheduled. How would the space agency cope? Joining us with analysis
is

Two federal workers recently served up a powerful reminder of what not to
do
during election season — even if it starts to seem like it's all-campaign-
all-the-
time. Those feds are now suspended without pay for violating the Hatch
Act. The law prohibits politicking while on duty. That seems clear-cut, but then
why do these cases pop up year after year?

Thomas Roland, Jr. —
Program Manager, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

If you've been been to the U.S. border or a major international airport recently, then you may have seen Customs and Border Protection officers with a new handheld device. It allows agents to check law enforcement databases in real time. Since March 2010, the device has helped to catch 450 drug traffickers, weapons smugglers and potential terror suspects. That device was developed by Thomas Roland, Jr. and Nael Samha, two program managers from the CBP. They've been nominated for a Service to America Medal.